


Maybe Never, Maybe Tomorrow (But Certainly Not Today)

by lucca



Series: Love Has Never Known the Law [1]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canon Compliant, Episode Related, F/M, Gen, The Opera in the Outback Caper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-15 18:48:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17534258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucca/pseuds/lucca
Summary: He can't always explain the things he knows.





	Maybe Never, Maybe Tomorrow (But Certainly Not Today)

Since the accident, Graham’s dreams have been in black and white.  

The doctor said that’s a little unusual but not a sign of permanent brain damage or anything, so he’d been pretty content to let it go. His dreams (when he can remember them) are mostly what Graham considers pretty typical for a young electrician of high ambition: vast wealth, dramatic escapades, pretty girls, rush of wind in his face, a hum of electricity.  But clearly never to be confused with his real life, because it’s all gray.

His real life is colorful enough anyway; he works at the opera.  If he’s not tripping over someone’s insanely intricate costume to get to a hard to reach light bulb, he’s trying to explain the stage crew _no, you can’t hang the scenery from the lighting cables. Almost dying once on the job is enough, thank you very much._

Graham doesn’t have a lot of spare cash these days, but it’s become his tradition to treat himself to a night out at the end of a show.  It’d been a long couple weeks, and the sound guys are new and a constant pain in his ass, so a beer and a burger sounded like proper way to celebrate surviving this latest run.  

He’s only got a few more shows to get through- an evening run tomorrow and matinee the day after.  He’s still an apprentice, and so blissfully off for the closing Gala next weekend.

He’s so close to being through with _Carmen_.  

He’s been trying to get the music out of his head for weeks, but now Graham finds himself determinedly humming _L'amour est un oiseau rebelle_ in the lingering warmth of the evening air _,_ trying to block out the traffic and general hustle on the road next to him.  There was something about the girl in red he can’t shake, and he can’t explain it.  Maybe it was the way she spoke, like every word was a wire she wanted him to trip over.  

 

_(Lights out, baby.)_

He really would have just let the girl be, if she hadn’t been so damn _bold_ about sneaking around backstage, and then acting like it’s _his_ fault she’s out of place.  Sneaking isn’t even the word; she was standing almost directly behind the chorus wearing, of all things, a bright red dress.  Graham is mostly a live-and-let-live kind of guy, but opera-themed cosplay is new to him.

As he approached her, he realized it’s not a dress, but a long coat.  His reaction was instinctive: arms up to his chest defensively, and he cast a look around for exits.  He’s never had a panic attack (that he can remember), but every fiber of his being told him this girl needed to leave _now._

 

_(You...really don’t remember me.)_

He knows he probably had friends before the accident, although in the months since he hasn’t run into anyone who seems to have fallen out of memory; no ghosted-on ex-girlfriends or old buddies wondering why he never responded to texts. At the hospital, they told him some old friends might be offended until he can explain what happened, but this girl sounded… relieved.

He probably should have just asked her about that right there.

 

_(Guess you just… remind me of someone I used to know.)_

It hadn’t bothered him, waking up without anyone. But it does get under his skin now, that he isn’t the person she’s looking for, or wants him to be.  Next time, he thinks. Next time he will be.

He probably should have just asked her out right there.

 

( _Thought you could be my guide.)_

He’s not one prone to fall for a pretty face easily, so he can’t exactly pinpoint what made him ask the sneaky girl in red to dinner, but the idea that wouldn’t see her again just made him feel so… _alone._ He’s positive she wants to see him again too, although he can’t explain how he knows that.  

 

_(I can think of worse ones.)_

His favorite cafe is not especially stylish, or even popular, and maybe that’s why Graham likes it so much.  It’s easy to be forgotten here, and that makes him feel somehow more welcome. The beer helps, too. It’s getting into spring now, and the outdoor cafes that line the water have shaken off the cool, quiet months to look forward to summer, Christmas, and tourists.

 

( _Carmen!)_

They’ve only really spoken a handful of sentences to each other, so he _can’t_ have any idea what she would say in greeting or how she would say it.  But their eyes meet as he stands in front of the crosswalk, expecting her to move closer any second, and he suddenly _knows_ the sound of things she never said.

 

_(Nodifyouunderst-staticcling?-bringtherain-thiefjustlike-hiteverypocket!-havingmyback-suregray)_

 

Just before the light changes, a passing bus sends a gust of wind against his face, and more than knowing, he _remembers_.  Just a second’s worth: an impact, a gust of wind, the whole world swirling but wide eyes not leaving his, and-

 

_Don’t let go._

 

He’s certain she’ll be gone when street clears, although can’t explain how he knows that either.

 

For the first time in years, he sees the color red in his dreams that night.  

 

In the morning, he starts searching.

**Author's Note:**

> So I binged watched the new Carmen Sandiego, and now I have a lot of feelings that I want to write about (so many loose ends!). I’m not exactly sure where they’re going with the whole amnesia thing, but I just couldn’t leave poor Gray/Graham standing on the street without some kind resolution.
> 
>  
> 
> The timing of the show confuses me a little, although I’ve sussed out a timeline that makes Carmen about 16 when she enrolled in VILE, and about 20 during this episode (which fits with what Player says about finding her in Argentina 20 years ago in the final ep). The novel that goes along with the series (it’s on Audible!) states that one had to be 18 in order to attend the VILE academy, which sort of fits with what Shadowsan says about it being a vocational school. However, there are a few things that make me think it was still probably a year or two before Carmen really started going after major VILE targets even after she escaped the island. For one thing, she’s pretty kitted out by the first episode, what with a team of allies and boats and gadgets that would have taken some time to acquire. Second, (and more obviously) girlfriend’s hair has CLEARLY had some time to grow out- a long while! 
> 
> So please enjoy my first foray into the world of Carmen Sandiego!


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